Estate of Presley v. Russen

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• concluding Elvis impersonator’s use of Elvis’ likeness in his stage show was primarily to appropriate the commercial value of Elvis’ likeness even though the impersonator’s show had some independent, creative, entertainment value
• holding that the right of publicity is descendible
• permitting right of publicity claim brought three years after Elvis’s death
• “[E]ntertainment that is merely a copy or imitation, even if skillfully and accurately carried out, does not really have its own creative component and does not have a significant value as pure entertainment.”
• inherently distinctive trademarks gain protected status upon their first adoption and use
• “[While] entertainment ... enjoys First Amendment protection ..., entertainment that is merely a copy or imitation, even if skillfully and accurately carried out, does not really have its own creative component and does not have a significant value as pure entertainment.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).